Justin Vas (56), a resident of Adyar Padavu in Neermarga, was admitted to a private hospital with head injuries after he was assaulted near his house, allegedly by a three members of the Sri Ram Sene on Friday. In a complaint to the police, Mr. Vas has identified the assailants as Pushparaj, Nitesh and Venkatesh.
He said that the gang waylaid him and his friend Gangadhar Shetty (42) when they were on their way to his house. “They allowed Mr. Shetty to escape saying that they would not attack a fellow Hindu,” Mr. Vas said.
But unlike previous cases, this attack was allegedly carried out at the behest of a police sub-inspector, Mr. Vas told The Hindu from his hospital bed on Saturday.
He said that the sub-inspector had been harassing him, his son Joel Vas (20), and his friend, Mr. Gangadhar Shetty, for several months. On Friday, a local daily carried report on the alleged harassment that the trio were facing from the police.
Mr. Joel Vas, an engineering student, said that his father had a dispute with some of his neighbours, who were allegedly close to the sub-inspector. The dispute was taken to the police station several times in the past few months and the police always sided against his family, Mr. Joel Vas claimed. Mr. Gangadhar Shetty often testified in favour of the Vas family in these cases.
Around 8.30 a.m. on June 2, Mr. Gangadhar Shetty and the father-son duo were allegedly picked up by the police and taken to the station. According to a complaint filed by the trio on July 8, they were tortured and harassed till midnight.
Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said that a departmental investigation was in progress. “The latest allegation is serious and we will investigate it,” he said.
